Credit: The Associated Press

Workers place a banner depicting Marcello Mastroianni from Federico Fellini’s film 8½ on the Palais during preparations for the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 12, 2014. The festival runs from May 14 to May 25. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

NEW YORK — An hour's drive down the French Riviera from Formula One's annual Monaco Grand Prix, the Cannes Film Festival is arguably its equal as an endurance test, a high-speed frenzy and, yes, a race course with a checkered flag.